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Media Kit Media Contact: media@around-n-over.org

What is Circumnavigation?  Definition      Crossing oceans:  A special boat    
Completed route:  Click for map        Calendar:  Timeline
Project Summary Document  summary_HPC.pdf        Poster:  small size
Printable 3-fold brochure:  Click for brochure            Photos:  provided on request
Printable 1-page flier:  Click for flier             

Erden Eruç achieved a human powered circumnavigation, the first self-propelled circumnavigation of the globe. By the time he returned to his starting point at Bodega Bay on 21 July 2012, 5 years 11 days had passed.

Eruç is the most experienced ocean rower alive in the world with 876 career days spent on the world's oceans. His historic achievements include being the first one to have rowed three different oceans, the first one to have rowed the complete Indian Ocean mainland to mainland, the first one to have completed a human powered ocean crossing which began in the southern hemisphere and concluded in the northern, and the longest distance by human power on the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea by 5,415 nm and 1,709 nm respectively. Erden also holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time at sea for a singlehanded rower by 312 days. His mainland to mainland crossing in 154 days from Lüderitz in Africa to Guiria in South America arriving on 11 March 2012, became the second row in history between these two continents.

In Stage 1 of the Six Summits Project, Eruç reached the summit of Mt. McKinley by human power from Seattle in May 2003. In Stage 2, his goal was to summit Kosciuszko in Australia starting from his home in Seattle. This was achieved in April 2010. Kilimanjaro in Africa was the destination in Stage 3 which was reached on June 14, 2011.

Founded to honor the legacy of fallen friends, our goal at Around-n-Over is to create educational opportunities from the experiences surrounding human powered journeys, and to use the same as co-fundraising programs toward our charitable goals. Please refer to our Score Card page for progress in our charitable and educational programs. Until now, Around-d-Over has leveraged over 100,000 USD toward charitable programs.

 

Future Plans

  • Six Summits Project has three remaining summits to reach by human power: Everest, Elbrus and Aconcagua.

STAGE 1: (summary page)

  • In 2003, Erden Eruç bicycled 5,546 miles roundtrip from Seattle to Denali (Mt. McKinley) towing all climbing gear (WHY?)
  • Walked in 67 miles over glaciers to reach base camp
  • Climbed 20,320 feet (6,194 meters), achieving a Sea-to-Summit climb of Denali - by human power
STAGE 2: (summary page)
  • In May 2007, Erden bicycled from Seattle to the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon for his launch on the Pacific Ocean.
  • The starting point of the Pacific row was later moved from Tiburon to Bodega Bay, to avoid the strong tides at the Golden Gate. Erden bicycled from Tiburon to Bodega Bay to set the stage for departure.
  • Bodega Bay thus became the starting point of Erden's human powered circumnavigation.
  • After five weeks of waiting for the right conditions, Erden was finally able to launch his ocean rowing boat from Bodega Bay on July 10, 2007. His intentions were to reach Australia by rowing to climb the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko, which will be the second summit on the Six Summits list.
  • Erden reached the waters of Papua New Guinea and ended his crossing until after the typhoon season. 312 days spent on the Pacific Ocean became the new Guinness World Record for the longest time at sea by a solo ocean rower.
  • Erden returned to the same spot to row another 20 days on the Bismarck Sea, making landfall at Finsch Harbor on the north shores of Papua New Guinea. He became the 4th person to row the Pacific Ocean solo east to west
  • After beach walking from Finsch Harbor to Bukawa near Lae, PNG, Erden continued along the Solomon Sea shores until Oro Bay by sea kayak.
  • The tough Kokoda Track became the route south on the coast to coast walk from Oro Bay to Port Moresby, arriving on November 26.
  • The Coral Sea crossing was completed in 33 days between 8 December 2009 and 10 January 2010, by rowing from Port Moresby to Sharp Point near the tip of Cape York.
  • Between January 28 and February 15, Erden used a sea kayak to paddle south along the far northeast shores of the Cape York Peninsula to reach Cooktown.
  • 3,607 km of pedaling brought Erden from Cooktown to Thredbo, an alpine village at the base of Mt. Kosciuszko, second on the list of Six Summits Project, then climbed it on April 10.
STAGE 3: (summary page)
  • Until June 2010, Erden bicycled from Thredbo to Fremantle where he prepared his rowboat for the Indian Ocean.
  • He bicycled north to Carnarvon and launched on the Indian Ocean on July 13, 2010.
  • When he made landfall at Mahajanga in Madagascar after 137 days at sea, the London based Ocean Rowing Society declared Erden "the first person to row three oceans."
  • Erden rowed 26 additional days across the Mozambique Channel and reached Angoche in Mozambique on April 20, 2011. This completed the "first ever mainland to mainland crossing of the Indian Ocean" from Australia to Africa.
  • He bicycle from Angoche in Mozambique to Arusha in Tanzania then climbed Kilimanjaro. Summit day was 14 June 2011.
  • Visiting the Mateves Secondary School near Arusha which is one of our charitable causes, was part of this effort.
HOME STRETCH: (Overall summary document)
  • Erden bicycled across Africa to reach Lüderitz in Namibia then resumed his human powered circumnavigation journey by rowing 154 days across the South Atlantic to Guiria in Venezuela.
  • Within 10 days, Erden had transferred his rowboat from Guiria to Carupano, bicycled the short distance in between then relaunched by rowboat on the Caribbean Sea.
  • He rowed nonstop across the Caribbean, through the Yucatan Channel to reach Cameron in Lousiana in May 2012.
  • Erden continued west to Bodega Bay by bicycle to conclude his human powered circumnavigation on 21 July 2012.
We hope that you followed along:
If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can see the entire circumnavigation effort here.

Dispatches are on our home page, progress charts available from the buttons in the upper right corner of the same.

PRIOR SUCCESS:

On sabbatical from the Six Summits Project, Erden Eruç rowed alone from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea. The row had started in Lisbon as a pair, arriving at Las Palmas on December 11, 2005. The solo Atlantic crossing time of 92 days which began on January 29, 2006 in Las Palmas, put Erden into the Caribbean Sea on May 2. On May 5, Erden made landfall at the island of Guadeloupe. With this solo crossing from the Canaries to Guadeloupe, Erden became the 33rd person in history to row across the Atlantic East to West single-handed.

    We hope that you followed along:
      92 days across the Atlantic solo from Canary Islands, landfall at Guadeloupe on day 96!!!
        Reports from the boat -- Reported Location
        Ocean Rowing Society -- Home Page -- Maps by ARGOS Beacon


Thank you for your interest in Around-n-Over. We believe that this is a multi-faceted story which is worth telling from every angle. We hope that you will agree.

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Why are we doing this?

We are in the business of realizing dreams, and helping others achieve theirs.

There are dreams that never go away. They live inside us. We learn to live with them. We tuck them away. We try to ignore them. We have commitments in the city. We feel guilty to even consider those dreams. Sometimes we indulge, lifting our eyes off the pages of a magazine with colorful pictures, and gaze into the distance. These dreams most often define the true individual inside us that wants to come alive.

Why is it that we accept as final our boundaries, and never reach beyond them? Is it because, as we grew up, we were told "to get real," or "to come down to earth" enough times that we are now set in our ways?

We are on this journey together to tell young students that dreams are possible with due diligence. We want to show them that they too can realize their dreams if they keep a positive outlook for life, seek proper advice and decide to take the necessary steps forward. We want to demonstrate that with collaboration comes understanding, and with understanding comes peace, which brings out the beauty in humanity.

But still: why take on such a long and demanding journey just to make that point? And why the summits?

One such dream was the path that Erden Eruç traced on a world map at his workplace in 1997. The path defined a human powered journey around the northern hemisphere, traversing over the summit of Everest on his way. This was the first time that he uttered "around and over" which later morphed to name this nonprofit. It sparked years of research and planning which evolved. When Erden met Göran Kropp, there was mutual excitement about the possibilities, and Göran offered encouragement while affirming Erden's dream. An unfortunate accident while rock climbing together led to Göran's death, and Erden decided to start his human powered journey around the world. To honor Göran's spirit, Erden's journey now includes reaching the highest summit on each of six consecutive continents along the way. He will touch these "from the sea to the summit" after approaching them by human power. The route has now evolved into a true circumnavigation.

The goal of Around-n-Over is to motivate and to educate students in elementary and middle schools. We have offered presentations which engaged the students, covering goal setting, realizing dreams, overcoming obstacles, and dealing with tragedy while using the journey as the backdrop. We have offered sessions with high school students where career choices, technology applications to adventure, business aspects of our project were the topics of discussion.

Our goal has been to remain environmentally conscious in our journey and in our presentations to empower the children with the skills to carry themselves responsibly in life and on their own mini-expeditions into the outdoors. Supporting the İLKYAR Foundation in Turkey and helping build additional classrooms at the Mateves Secondary School near Arusha in Tanzania have been our charitable projects. In the long run, we will become enablers, helping other adventurers to achieve their dreams, which will keep the inspirational stories in front of children.


Around-n-Over, P.O. Box 19662, Seattle, WA 98109-6662 • Fax: 206-709-3927 • info@around-n-over.org
Web site design by Erden Eruç • Copyright © 2003 Around-n-Over • All Rights Reserved.